Thursday, 26 September 2013

Foxriver11: Young Gunners Penalize WBA

WBA 1-1 Arsenal (3-4 on penalties)

Foxriver11: Hic! Hic! Another round of rum for me before
I start writing this.

The cup tie, when Arsene usually throws
the young guns into shallow waters was here and boy, were we on the edge. It was
supposed to be an easy draw for the gooners considering the run of form we were
in; but Wenger had done what he does best, a young squad with just a few 1st
team players and those who desperately wanted some game time after their injury
layoffs.

Hayden got a surprise debut at the
hawthorns because of a shoulder niggle on Flamini. Per, Gnabry and Flamini were
the only players who were involved in the side that won against stoke in the
weekend. It was an untidy game from the kick-off as two sides full of
unfamiliar names wrestled to get to grips with both themselves and each other.
The 1st half was fairly uneventful for both teams, until late in the half when
either side could have taken the lead. First, it was Gnabry who tried a shot on
goal which was paired away by Reid after a goal line save. And minutes later,
Fabianski was called into action for a quick save when Mulumbu sent a volley
flying across the goal.

For WBA Mulumbu, Sessegnon, Sinclair and
Berahino were controlling the midfield battle over Arsenal and attack after
attack kept flying down the right hand side where Monreal was having a tough
time dealing with Berahino. The young guns of Arsenal were growing into the
game as the game progressed. Hayden put in some strong challenges and was
pretty effective in breaking WBA attacks along with Arteta. Miyachi and Gnabry
kept making runs on the WBA defense, but their final ball wasn't up to the
mark. Bentdner was excellent for someone who hasn't played a lot for Arsenal
even though he has been with us for over 9 seasons now.

The only disappointment was Eisfield, he
looked lost for brief patches during the match except for a sublimely taken
goal for which even Wenger praised him saying he showed Pires's class in his 1st
touch to gather the ball from Bentdner and slot it deftly past the keeper, 1-0
to Arsenal against the run of play. WBA kept persisting and a momentarily
collapse of concentration by the gunners allowed Berahino to equalize, a well
taken finish at that.

81 minutes into the game and Eisfield
was replaced by 17 yr old Akpom, Hayden was replaced moments later by Kris
Olsson. In injury-time Gnabry had a chance to steal the win, but he couldn’t
connect with a fine cross by Jenkinson. Extra-time saw Arteta forced off with
cramps in his left foot, perhaps unsurprising given his lack of game time, and
Hector Bellerin slotted into midfield despite being a right-back.

Olsson and Bellerin took no time in
settling in and played pretty decent in the final minutes. The last two minutes
of Extra Time sent shivers down gooners spines when Amalfitano came on and sent
a few shots Fabianski's way; one hitting the cross bar on the dying moments.
Penalties!!!

It’s been cruel to Arsenal a few years
running now, but I guess lady luck does give a breather occasionally after all.
It looked like the Gunners were dead and buried when Serge Gnabry missed, but
poor efforts by Amalfitano and Dawson gave Nacho Monreal the chance to score
the decisive kick, which he duly smacked home.

The composure shown by the young guns to
even step up to the penalty spot was a clear sign of Arsene's favorite
character that he looks in players. On an irrelevant note, it was heartening to
be on the other end of a penalty result!! Also watching TGSTEL to be playing
with a different kind of attitude was also a positive note, me thinks :p.
Anyways back to the weekend fixture against Swansea to look forward to now and
assist master Özil terrorize some swans.